[katdad]

I've read 'em alll -- Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Bradbury, Leiber, King, you name it, but I've never read a book as frightening as Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian".

McCarthy you know wrote "The Road" and "No Country for Old Men" among others but "Blood Meridian" is his masterpiece. Not even a supernatural book, it's about an Old West scalphunting expedition. But as a horror fan it was this book, as an adult, that gave me nightmares. I sometimes had to put the book down for a while. It's that bloody.

There's a main character in the book, "The Judge" who rises as one of the truly most evil monsters in modern fiction. A human monster more frightening than a supernatural one.

Right now you can find Blood Meridian on used and new book shelves, and there's an excellent Modern Library low price hardback reprint. A warning: if you get this edition, SKIP OVER the excellent intro by Harold Bloom. It contains too many spoilers, so save the intro for later.

Anyone read Blood Meridian yet? And a queststion for anyone who has, at the end of the novel, "What did The Judge do to The Kid?" (don't answer here, send me a private message -- we don't want to spoil the fun.